I have actually, believe it or not, been writing a long time, ever since…well, since I was taught to write. It took me until the ripe old age of 19 to decide to write a novel. I was covered in brick dust and residue from concrete at the time and had spent a long time editing and writing comic books, and short stories. Novels were the obvious next step.
Problem with novels are…well, they are very long…except for novellas…which are short. I think they should be called Novs. No? So, there I was, ready to write a novel, but I had no clue how to do it. But I did it anyway. My first novel about a young man, incredibly like me, in love with the woman who he could never have, involved a ridiculous plot, poorly written characters and a lot of spelling mistakes. Something’s never change!
So, here’s the beginning of me telling anyone interested how to write. Well, how I do it.
1). Never ever begin a book when you’re inspired! No, stop it. Writing a book is like a race- you begin by sprinting, and you’ll end up running out of steam. Let the idea go cold, think about it…do some research, jot ideas. Set a date in the future to start writing. Sit down, when you feel least inspired and begin. Soon enough, maybe in the 2nd chapter or later, you’ll get a feeling, like a sudden flutter going through and you’ll find you can’t stop writing. I call this feeling- writer’s rush.
2). Obviously, you need to know what you’re going to write about. If it’s a police thriller, then read books, trawl the Internet, date a detective…whatever it takes. It’s always interesting doing research, and a lot of the time your research leads your book down a very interesting path.
Well, that’s enough for now. More writing hints next time.